Chapter 39 Here, Actually, I Want to Keep Snakes

Chapter 39 Here, Actually, I Want to Keep Snakes

"I don't care if you're the daughter of Xiao San, but thinking about..."

"If you don't get lost and stop bothering me, don't blame me for being rude!"

Meng Ci had no good face for the two of them, but they were stubborn like pigs that didn't fear boiling water, still staying here with thick skin.

Especially Liu Jie.

Liu Jie was used to acting arrogantly and giving orders in front of Meng Ci.

Even though Meng Ci had never shown him any kindness before, Liu Jie hadn't changed his arrogance.

"Meng Ci, what are you talking about!"

"No matter what, you and YaYa have Uncle's blood running through your veins."

"Besides, YaYa is a girl; be more polite to her."

"Fine, since you say that Li Xiaoya and I are Li Shanyang's children, call him over now, and we'll confront him face-to-face."

Meng Ci, of course, knew they couldn't call him because Li Shanyang was likely already dead.

"Brother!"

"It's not that we don't want to call Dad over, but he's sick." Li Xiaoya started spouting nonsense.

Meng Ci was speechless; it was because he had been too polite that they kept coming back to cause trouble.

He grabbed the long knife from the entranceway, its shiny blade reflecting a faint light.

Meng Ci angrily pushed open the iron gate and glared at the two of them.

"Say it again—get lost!"

Li Xiaoya and Liu Jie retreated step by step.

"Brother, I mean no harm!"

"I just wanted to buy some food from you or take us along next time you go out to find food."

Meng Ci ignored them. "If you dare knock on my door again, watch your hands!"

"Don't forget how Li Shanyang got that injury on his neck."

"Or do you want one on your neck as well?"

The two of them remembered Meng Ci's ruthlessness and could only leave.

"Bang!"

Meng Ci slammed the door shut and then turned on the lamp on the coffee table, taking out a spicy mixed dish from the storage space.

He found a comedy movie and watched it happily.

With the power out, there weren't many entertainment options, and entering the storage space wasn't easy either.

After digesting his meal, Meng Ci lay down on the bed, watching TV until he fell asleep.

The next day, at the agreed time, the two met at the door.

"These are the things Zhang Mingtian and the others brought for you."

"Since you didn't wake up this morning, I took them for you."

Because Meng Ci had been sleeping, Zhang Mingtian and the others didn't dare knock too hard, fearing that an irritable Meng Ci would come out and attack them.

In the end, Shen Que came out and took the items, which he now handed over.

Meng Ci took them and looked at them; some packages were wet and didn't look fresh.

But in the apocalypse, there was nothing to be picky about.

"You choose what you want; the rest is mine."

Shen Que took two packets of instant noodles and nothing else.

"I've thought about it; finding coal can wait!"

"The most important thing right now is to protect our belongings at home."

"Now that many people in the building know we brought back food, what if they try to break in while we're away!"

"This security door, no matter how strong, can't withstand repeated hits."

Shen Que agreed with Meng Ci, knowing that there were examples of security doors being broken downstairs.

Meng Ci led him into his room and opened the window-sealed room.

There was no decoration inside, but in the corner, there were dozens of bags of cement, sand, many steel bars, and red bricks.

These construction materials were left by the real estate agent at Meng Ci's request, just in case.

But Meng Ci couldn't reveal the truth, so he had prepared an explanation.

"I saw many people liked keeping snakes, and I fancied a golden python, only a meter long."

"So when I renovated, I had the windows of this room sealed off."

"These things were meant to build it a nest, and then we would keep it here."

"Before we could finish building it, we encountered this massive downpour."

"I wonder if that golden python can wait for me to bring it home."

Shen Que didn't understand Meng Ci's regret, and he found the man's hobby quite unique—wanting to keep a snake.

"This heavy rain won't stop anytime soon, so I was thinking of building a wall outside."

"We can take down this door and install it outside."

Shen Que said, "This door isn't sturdy!"

"We can remove the security doors from 1704 and 1703 and install them here, then change the lock cores."

When Meng Ci bought the house, the real estate agent told him that the other five units on the seventeenth floor had been sold.

One was Shen Que's, another belonged to Li Ping and her family. Two of the units had never shown any signs of occupancy, probably purchased as investments or still under renovation.

There was one more unit where Meng Ci had never seen anyone, but a few days before the downpour, there was light in the room; after that, there was none.

After being beaten, Li Ping and her family, out of fear, moved to another floor last night.

Now, only two families remained on the seventeenth floor.

Saying it was done, the two went to dismantle the security doors of the two units.

One was indeed under renovation, with keys hanging at the entrance, while the other was still unfinished.

They carried both doors and frames to Meng Ci's place.

Then they started considering how to build the wall.

"I have plenty of cement, sand, and rebar here. Why don't we use bricks to build a frame?"

"Then we can insert the rebar and pour the cement and sand directly into it. Would that make it more solid?"

Shen Que accepted Meng Ci's suggestion, and the two began researching how to mix cement.

After mixing cement and sand, they piled it up and dug a hole in the middle, then poured water into it.

After repeated attempts, either it was too watery or too dry, and it took half a day to get the cement right.

Then they brought out some bricks to build the wall. Neither of them had experience with masonry, fearing it might end up crooked.

However, there is always a way around difficulties. Shen Que dismantled a table, splitting the tabletop in half, and used it to block the sides.

They placed the cement-coated bricks along the tabletop, ensuring they wouldn't be crooked.

Shen Que was quick to learn, while Meng Ci was average, so after laying one layer of bricks, Meng Ci focused on holding the door frame.

Neither of them knew how to install a door frame, and with no phones to look up instructions, they thought that embedding the frame in cement might make it more secure.

Their approach was simple and straightforward.

The wall was about fifty centimeters thick, with doors on each side, and the rest would be surrounded by bricks, with cement poured inside later.

After two hours, Shen Que had built the wall to a height of one meter.

Meanwhile, Meng Ci, who had gone back to cook, had finished preparing the meal. Each of them held a bowl filled with rice and braised eggplant on top.

Squatting at the door, they ate and chatted.

"You're quite skilled; the wall is pretty straight. Once the rain stops, you'll have a new skill."

Meng Ci marveled that people truly differ; some are just naturally smart.